A good day

My son had a good day yesterday, after two weeks of pretty good days. It was the end of the nine-day, start-of-summer religious education program at our church -- a merciful substitute for weekly CCD classes -- and he went up on stage with his class and sang songs and did not call undue attention to himself. His aide has been giving me good reports after each of the four-hour sessions, noting that he seems more mature this year. Even the religious education director -- who years ago, when my guy started this program, insisted he leave early each day because the teacher couldn't take a full session of him -- called me aside to tell me that many people had told her how well my son was doing this year, how much progress he's made, and that I'm doing a good job. That's the kind of thing we live for, isn't it? It can be so hard to see change from up close; and hard, too, when you think you're seeing change, but not sure if anybody else is. I've felt since we started the Nurtured Heart Approach that it's made an enormous difference in my son's level of calmness and control at home. Maybe it really is branching out to other areas of his life now. On Monday, he starts again at the same day camp he attended last year. If they see a change, too, I'll be putting a gold star on my personal chart.